Midwest travel and interesting places

This is Yo Yo the narrator for Circus Flora. Circus Flora is a one ring circus that annually tells a story through their acts. Here Yo Yo is watching The Flying Wallendas execute their high wire acts with precision. Yo Yo seems satisfied with the performance while the audience stares with amazement.

At a circus like this you have to have a pretty good camera. No flashes are allowed as one unexpected distraction could spell disaster for a high wire or trapeze artist. You will need a 50 – 150mm zoom lens on a camera that can handle high ISO such as 2000. Leave the flash at home and turn off any focus assist with a light.

Click on the photo for full size and to get access to the photo specs.

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Cityscapes provide a nice view of metropolitan areas. For Kansas City, a great place to photograph the city is from their World War I memorial. Built on a high hill, your get a spectacular view of their Union Station with their downtown in the background.

With the renovation of the Gateway Arch grounds, you can now get a beautiful shot of the Old Courthouse with many of the city’s landmark buildings in the background. In the past, there was a highway at the spot this photo was taken.

The St. Louis Arch grounds have been totally redesigned with an expansion of the underground museum and some enhanced vistas. This is one of two reflecting pools which seem to be as they were in the past. The Arch and its grounds are interesting subjects for photographers of all skills.

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This is the opposite view of the previous photo. The memorial faces Kansas City’s Union Station and is on a steep hill so as you walk towards the memorial you can turn around for a spectacular view of the KC skyline. This is a hand held, three shot photo taken while walking up the hill. See how this type of photo is processed: https://greatriversimaging.com/hdr/

One of the best places to photograph the Kansas City skyline is from the International World War I Museum and Memorial. It is high on a hill overlooking Union Station with downtown nicely centered behind. It is a spectacular view!

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After weeks of rain, snow and freezing weather for the past few weeks, it is time to get out into the countryside. Even in the dead of winter, there are beautiful colors and landscapes to photograph. This is a three shot HDR photo processed in Lightroom and Photomatix to help bring out the natural color and contrasts.

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Out for our weekly trek with the hounds allowing us to visit the scenic countryside in St. Louis and St. Charles counties. Basset Hounds are bred to hunt rabbits and other small animals. The hounds are low to the ground and very powerful allowing them to move in and out of brush with ease. They unexpectedly disappear and then reappear from the hedgerow down the road. The rabbits always give the Bassets a good run but outsmart them in the end.

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One of the “claims to fame” of my home town of University City, Missouri is that Chuck Berry lived near-by and performed here regularly. Here is a statue of him across the street from Blueberry Hill where you could find him about once a month until about the last year of his life.